Motion Pictures

Sundance Bound

University of Miami School of Communication alumni The Meza Brothers, a.k.a. Andres Meza-Valdes, B.S.C. ’09, and Diego Meza-Valdes, B.S.C. ’09, are headed to the 2016 Sundance Film Festival to showcase Boniato, their 23-minute short horror film featuring migrant workers on a boniato (sweet potato) farm who cross borders into a supernatural world, a metaphor for the murky underground network into which many undocumented workers fall. This is the Meza Brothers’ eighth short in the horror genre and the first they’ve co-directed with seasoned stuntman/action director Eric Mainade, who came up with the initial story [...]

Producer of Little Accidents speaks to SoC Students

Jason Berman, one of the producers of the independent film Little Accidents spoke to Robert “Trae” DeLellis’ Survey of Motion Pictures class on October 22. Little Accidents, starring Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, and Jacob Lofland, focuses on a small mining town after a terrible coal mine accident. The film was shown at Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 and was released in theaters a year later. Berman answered a range of students’ questions from details of the indie film to filmmaking in general.   According to Berman, one of the [...]

‘Life On Mars’ TV pilot to premiere at University of Miami

Father-daughter duo, David Isaacs and Andie Isaacs paired up to create and produce the pilot of an original sitcom Life On Mars that will now premiere at their alma mater, the University of Miami. David Isaacs is a University of Miami School of Communication alumnus that has more than 40 years of experience in production and writing: titles include, M*A*S*H, Cheers, Wings, Frasier, Becker, and Mad Men. Andie Isaacs recruited her father to be executive producer on Life On Mars, which was, at the time, only a rough screenplay written [...]

“Boniato” Wins Best Short Film at DIFF

Diabolique International Film Festival (DIFF) has honored “Boniato,” directed by The Meza Brothers, Diego Meza-Valdes and Andres Meza-Valdes, as Best Short Film. Diego Meza-Valdes, B.S.C. ’09, graduated with a double major in motion pictures and studio art. Andres Meza-Valdes, B.S.C. ’09, graduated with a double major in motion pictures and theater arts. The film travels next week to the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, known as one of the best horror film festivals in the world, where it will be one of nine international films shown.

Game of Thrones Director, David Nutter, Wins an Emmy

Former University of Miami student David Nutter won an Emmy on Sunday for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. Nutter won the award for directing “Mother’s Mercy,” the final episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. His win contributed to the series’ record-breaking night.  “Mother’s Mercy” is the Game of Thrones episode that lit up the Internet with fans of the show disputing the fate of beloved character, Jon Snow. Nutter was a Motion Pictures student at UM and is most known for directing pilot episodes, which is [...]

MFA Graduate Tim Warren Wins International Award for Whiskey Spot

Tim Warren, a School of Communication Cinema and Interactive Media M.F.A. graduate in motion pictures, won a Finalist award at the New York Festivals’ International Advertising Awards for his Master’s thesis highlighting the mystique of the Johnnie Walker brand.  The student spot was shot in South Florida, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and New York City. More than 60 industry professionals worked in sub-zero weather conditions, with a full special effects team, elite lighting crew and camera equipment, and the only Milo Motion Control Camera Rig in the [...]

2019-12-17T19:36:46-05:00August 26, 2015|Advertising, Motion Pictures|

10th Annual Canes Film Showcase

For many filmmakers, screening their film in Los Angeles is an opportunity that rarely comes. For motion picture students from University of Miami’s School of Communication, that dream is about to be realized. On June 4 at 8 p.m., the 10th annual Canes Film Showcase presents to a theater of leading industry professionals the top five student films and best screenplay, as judged in May during UM School of Communication’s Canes Film Festival. Screening are Espionage 101, Home, El Mar y El, The Mermaid, and I Want to Beat up [...]

Canes Film Showcase Screens Student Projects

From a migrant worker in Beijing to a would-be “Marielito” in Cuba, from hacking computers to “hooking up” in college, the Canes Film Showcase offered a wide variety of subject matter and style for the 450 attendees who filled the Directors Guild of America theater on Hollywood’s famed Sunset Boulevard, Thursday evening, June 4. The annual event, in its tenth year, showcases five student films selected by judges as the best of the Canes Film Festival, held each spring at the University of Miami. Those students then get to travel to Los [...]

Calle Ocho at 360 Degrees

In a strip mall on Eighth Street in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, there’s a typical Cuban coffee shop named Pablo’s Cafecito. The only way to get a seat at the counter is to put on your Oculus. Pablo’s Cafecito is the setting for Calle Ocho, the University of Miami School of Communication’s first venture into 360 degree filming. Previous films using virtual reality (VR) technology have taken viewers to the tops of mountains or on bike rides through the country. Calle Ocho is the first student-produced narrative 360 degree film, [...]

School of Communication Offers a Semester in LA

Starting in the spring semester of 2016, selected senior and junior students majoring in motion pictures or media management will have the opportunity to gain professional experience through a 14-week semester in Los Angeles. The semester is supervised by School of Communication faculty and taught in LA by handpicked adjuncts with professional experience and advanced degrees.  Program participants will be expected to take 12 credits of classes and three credits of supervised internship. “I’m personally extremely excited because this semester in Los Angeles offers a huge opportunity to our media [...]